oxfordshire wrote:Thank you syd. Just enjoying another glass of red after dinner. Currently 7.20pm here or 10.21am your time. I will be fast asleep when the game is on so look forward to reading about a massive win when I have my breakfast around 10pm your time. FTM.

Poor excuse, you could have set off early to make the game.

Bus to stationtrain to airportplane to londontrain to sunderland walk to ground

How hard is that

Thanks Syd for the offer. Unfortunately the tickets you organised arrived too late.

I won't be going tonight but I thought I'd just mention that myself and my son are now season ticket holders - finally sorted it out! First game of the season for us on Sunday. Looking forward to a big win

Kipper wrote:I won't be going tonight but I thought I'd just mention that myself and my son are now season ticket holders - finally sorted it out! First game of the season for us on Sunday. Looking forward to a big win

Watched on Sky and by and large we played bright fast pressing football.

What we learnt is we are desperate for strikers.. we knew that beforehand but it was in big bold letters for all to see tonight.

Ozturk is I am afraid to say not good enough, he was poor in the game against Charlton looked like an accident waiting to happen. We appear to have solved the goalkeeper problem but have a CB one? At one point, the commentators started taking the piss about the state of his defending.

Yes Catts was decent. O Nien .. hmm jury is out. Max Power and the rest... well done lads.

personally not too disheartened at the defeat.. we will play worse and win.

Yes Ozturk was at fault for the goal but although poor against Wednesday I thought he played better than he did against Charlton.Perhaps he is a work in progress.He will be needed during the 46 game sesson.

I'm afraid Ozturk seems to be this seasons whipping boy, a large section of our fans need one sadly but for me its unfair. He is has not got off to the best of starts and was at fault for the first goal but for me he looked like he wanted the keeper to come out for the ball and paid the price for a moments indecision. Apart from that I cant say he stood out for his mistakes that others saw.

I think we may well see a back three under Ross with Loovens, Baldwin and one other, that one could well be Flanagan or even Hume.

Player Ratings

Jon McLaughlin, 7/10: Really impressive, faultless for the goal, looks confident in all aspects of his decision making.Reece James, 6/10: Improved after a shaky start and got caught out a few times defensively.Jack Baldwin, 7/10: Looked like a Championship quality defender bringing the ball out from defence.Alim Ozturk, 5/10: His dreadful error cost Sunderland their chance at cup glory.Denver Hume, 7/10: Looks a player. Played with great intensity, showed great confidence and glimpses of real quality too.Luke O’Nien, 6/10: Linked play well between midfield and attack but squandered his big moments in front of goal.Lee Cattermole, 7/10: Lead the team well, put in some brilliant tackles and mostly made smart decisions in possession.Max Power, 6/10: Solid if unspectacular performance.George Honeyman, 6/10: Typical energetic, effective Honeyman performance.Elliot Embleton, 6/10: Struggled to get into the game hopefully his next opportunity will come in a more central position.Chris Maguire, 7/10: Questionable decision making at times, but Maguire held up the ball well throughout.(SUB) Lynden Gooch, 7/10: Typical lively performance, couldn’t quite create the magic we needed.(SUB) Josh Maja, 6/10: Couldn’t bag the goal he was brought on to score.(SUB) Luke Molyneux, N/A: Didn’t get much of chance after coming on late in the game.Man of the Match: Lee Cattermole.

cyprussyd wrote:I'm afraid Ozturk seems to be this seasons whipping boy, a large section of our fans need one sadly but for me its unfair. He is has not got off to the best of starts and was at fault for the first goal but for me he looked like he wanted the keeper to come out for the ball and paid the price for a moments indecision. Apart from that I cant say he stood out for his mistakes that others saw.

I think we may well see a back three under Ross with Loovens, Baldwin and one other, that one could well be Flanagan or even Hume.

Oz is in a new country and getting fit, the whipping boys should give the bloke a chance to settle in fgs.

To say he is hopeless is way way premature, bit like the whipping boys.

________________________________________________________Sunderland AFC fans, (The Special Ones)

cyprussyd wrote:I'm afraid Ozturk seems to be this seasons whipping boy, a large section of our fans need one sadly but for me its unfair. He is has not got off to the best of starts and was at fault for the first goal but for me he looked like he wanted the keeper to come out for the ball and paid the price for a moments indecision. Apart from that I cant say he stood out for his mistakes that others saw.

I think we may well see a back three under Ross with Loovens, Baldwin and one other, that one could well be Flanagan or even Hume.

Oz is in a new country and getting fit, the whipping boys should give the bloke a chance to settle in fgs.

To say he is hopeless is way way premature, bit like the whipping boys.

For the past few weeks I have read about Catts the Sunday league player, Catts who does not give a shit, Catts who is passed it, Catts who should never be near our team again.

Catts was my and many others MOTM last night, he will probably leave and good luck to him but after years of loyal service he is slaughtered worse than Rodwell. Just my opinion.

cyprussyd wrote:I'm afraid Ozturk seems to be this seasons whipping boy, a large section of our fans need one sadly but for me its unfair. He is has not got off to the best of starts and was at fault for the first goal but for me he looked like he wanted the keeper to come out for the ball and paid the price for a moments indecision. Apart from that I cant say he stood out for his mistakes that others saw.

I think we may well see a back three under Ross with Loovens, Baldwin and one other, that one could well be Flanagan or even Hume.

Oz is in a new country and getting fit, the whipping boys should give the bloke a chance to settle in fgs.

To say he is hopeless is way way premature, bit like the whipping boys.

If we have a whipping boy it's likely to be Catts, although last night he was decent ( not MoM for me). Ozturk has had 2/3 games and has been poor in all of them. He in all honesty cost us the game last night. We went all through last season with goalkeepers that were hopeless which cost us dear. Baldwin and Loovens have to stay fit.

cyprussyd wrote:I'm afraid Ozturk seems to be this seasons whipping boy, a large section of our fans need one sadly but for me its unfair. He is has not got off to the best of starts and was at fault for the first goal but for me he looked like he wanted the keeper to come out for the ball and paid the price for a moments indecision. Apart from that I cant say he stood out for his mistakes that others saw.

I think we may well see a back three under Ross with Loovens, Baldwin and one other, that one could well be Flanagan or even Hume.

Oz is in a new country and getting fit, the whipping boys should give the bloke a chance to settle in fgs.

To say he is hopeless is way way premature, bit like the whipping boys.

If we have a whipping boy it's likely to be Catts, although last night he was decent ( not MoM for me). Ozturk has had 2/3 games and has been poor in all of them. He in all honesty cost us the game last night. We went all through last season with goalkeepers that were hopeless which cost us dear. Baldwin and Loovens have to stay fit.

He has had 2 to 3 games, well lets put him against a wall and shoot him for making a mistake after 2 to 3 games and now we gently stick him in the season long goalkeeper category. Last night I was right in line with him for their goal and my first thought was it was a joint mistake between him and the keeper, he was waiting for the keeper to come and take the ball. Does that excuse his mistake, no but it does IMO put it in some perspective. Keeping Loovens and Baldwin fit is of course the best idea but if either one of them is injured its not the end of the world, we have cover. Catts BTW had far more than a decent game last night, he had an excellent game but the problem with watching on Sky is you see what the camera shows you, when you are there you get the fuller picture.

When it comes to whipping boys why do you and others need one Sunders? Why not just support the team, yes call them out for mistakes but do it fairly, I'm afraid far to many just sit and wait for a mistake to stick the boot in, a very strange way of supporting IMO.